IDF Chief: Israel Had Commandos on the Ground in Iran During 12 Day War
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir revealed Wednesday that Israeli special operations forces had been on the ground during the 12 Day War with Iran, carrying out covert missions.
Israel’s Ynetnews.com reported:
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir revealed Wednesday that ground commando units, alongside Mossad operatives, conducted covert operations inside Iran during the war. His remarks mark the first official acknowledgment of IDF special forces acting on Iranian soil in the context of the 12-day conflict.
“We achieved full control over Iranian airspace and every location we chose to operate in,” Zamir said in a special statement. “This was made possible in part due to the integration and deception carried out by air and ground commando forces.”
Zamir also addressed the strategic impact of the campaign, describing the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear program as “not a pinpoint strike but a systemic blow.” Citing Military Intelligence assessments, he said the accumulated achievements of the operation mean “Iran’s nuclear program suffered severe, widespread and deep damage, setting it back by years. We will not allow Iran to develop weapons of mass destruction.”
Israel’s Air Force was the most public component of the attack.
However, the IDF also made use of a wide variety of operations, including intelligence, cyber-warfare, naval forces, and ground troops — though the use of the latter was not publicized during the war.
Zamir also acknowledged the deaths in combat of seven Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza the day before, when a Hamas terrorist managed to attach a bomb to their armored personnel carrier.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file
